Robotnik's last victim
by Mr Halfwright
Summary: A year after Robotnik's final defeat, the scars of history are all aligning towards one particular prince... a fox prince to be precise... who is incidentally drawn into a hate fuelled war of his own.
1. Black Market

Robotnik's last victim.

Archieverse, Sonic X AU.

**Phew, writing Antoine is hard... please note that any spelling/grammar/typo error in Antoine's speech is intentional. **

Don't own any characters.

**Knowledge of Archieverse and Sonic X is essential to understanding this story.**

This was supposed to be my version of a valentine fic, but got turned into a multi chapter story.

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><p><em>Loneliness is an unpleasant feeling in which a person feels a strong sense of emptiness and solitude resulting from inadequate levels of social relationships. However, it is a subjective experience. Loneliness has also been described as social pain - a psychological mechanism meant to alert an individual of isolation and motivate herhim to seek social connections._

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><p>"I would... for a moment, like to recite the infamous story of 'Robotnik's last victim'." Mr Quack stated, putting the class notes down onto the table. "As many of you will know, I was a practicing doctor back in those days."<p>

"Excuse me sir," one of his students butted in, an echidna female, "but what does this have to do with anything? We've all heard the story about the fox prince."

"Well, Free-Na, how many versions have you heard come from the Royal Doctor?"

"What!"

"Bullsh..."

"Get outa here..."

"He's Quackers..."

"Believe it or not, I was the doctor assigned to look after Miles Acorn... or as you all know him, Tails the fox prince." Dr Quack continued, ignoring his students.

"What?" Free-Na said out loud, surprised. Quack knew her father was supposed to be secret service and she was never told about his existence in infamy.

"I want you to know, that no matter how much training you have, how much experience you have... you could find yourself with such a unique case." Dr Quack continued, pulling his leather seat out and sitting behind his heavy oak teachers table. His class of twenty sat in silence, watching the old grizzled duck disbelievingly as he quietly drank his tea.

"Robotnik's last victim is one hell of a disturbing story, I'll admit..." Mr Quack said, drumming his feathered fingers on the side of the table. "Whatever version you listen to... the bedtime story about the prince who has everything yet nothing... or the un-understood, psycho genius who got screwed over by fate time and time again... they all have some form of truth behind them." Quack stated as he finally finished his tea and placed it down on the saucer, the clink of the china was almost deafening in the eerie silence present.

"To really understand the story, you have to understand the kid, or this 'fox prince' as so many people like to call him..." Mr Quack begun, sighing slightly. "He was born on the day that Robotnik took over so many years ago, in fact, I was actually the doctor that signed his birth certificate..." Mr Quack stated, to the murmurment of his class. "His birth parents were never seen after that day..." the elderly duck sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Good folks too."

"In the early days, when the freedom fighters went out to fight the ternary known only as Robotnik, a young Miles was left behind with the residents of knothole. Though you might not think much of it, you have to remember, these freedom fighters, were his only friends... everyone else near his age was either robotisized or killed on the day Robotnik took over."

"it wasn't long until Miles was begging Princess Sally to let him join the FF, she wouldn't have any of it though... not from a four year old fox cub... not from someone she saw as her own son..."

"Working out a compromise, Sally had Rotor build Tails a working submarine, but didn't provide any fuel for it. Tails, being the clever kid he was found a source of fuel and had some adventures of his own... on one of these adventures he managed to find his first love Fiona Fox... or so he thought... Fiona was a machine designed by Robotnik so he could robotisize Tails."

"After Fiona fell into the sea water, she was disabled by the iodine present... and Tails left her, but not without emotional scars from the experience."

"It wasn't until he was around eight years old that Tails managed to con Sonic into letting him into one of the 'adventures' as they liked to call them... you have to remember that the freedom fighters are seven, eight years older than he was."

"On his first mission out, Tails was sucked out into an alternate universe, I can only speculate on what actually happened during that time... but I believe Tails made a good many friends there."

"They came back around two weeks later... some universe rule distorts the time between the two dimensions... they had actually spent a good few months there I believe."

"While they were gone, a massive earthquake had hit Robotropolis, with Robotnik away... every single robian there was destroyed by the quake... too fragile after almost a decade of neglect to stand up against the crumbling buildings."

"Some time later... a human friend from the other universe had teleported in... and Cosmo arrived from space... Tails fell in love with Cosmo yet had to kill her to save everyone else... he never fully recovered from that."

"I'll save the story's about their 'adventures' for another time, but Tails was thirteen by the time Robotnik was finally finished..."

"Robotnik had been gone for a number of months, Nicole had rebuilt Mobotropolis for a second time and it was once again rechristened 'New Mobotropolis,' Sonic and Sally had finally decided to tie the knot, and wanted to adopt Tails at the same time, so on the second of March, two new Acorn's were added to the royal bloodline, Sonic Maurice Hedgehog Acorn, and Tails Miles Prower Acorn." Mr Quack said, smirking, "funny how those two never got rid of their real names..."

"It was the happily ever after those three deserved... or so everyone had thought... this is where 'Robotnik's last victim' really begins..."

"Because of the war with Robotnik, Sally had forbidden childbirth for several years because of the finical and time struggles it would bring... and every continent fighting Robotnik had agreed. Only a few remote places had actually allowed it."

"Remote places were where Robotnik targeted... until finally everyone else in his generation was unintentionally killed."

"Tails was fourteen when the signs started showing... Antoine I believe spotted it first, though Tails had been showing other signs much before that. Antoine didn't know how serious the situation was it at the time, hell none of us did, there was nothing to compare it to... but if Antoine had told someone about it, Miles could still be here today."

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><p>"Antoine, can I see you for a minute..." King Maximillian asked, sifting slightly in his throne.<p>

"Sure things my liege, what is it zat you being wanting to be desired." Antoine asked curiously, Maximillian flinched slightly at the terrible broken English before replying. Antoine was not one of the king's favoured people to talk to.

"I've received word from GUN that the Iron Dominion may soon try to infiltrate Castle Acorn... as of today I want you and your guardsmen to check everybody and everything coming in here... excluding only myself and Alicia." Maximillian said, pausing slightly, "I know it's drastic, but we can't take any chances here."

"Everybody's sir?" Antoine questioned, "Does that be including's ze rest of ze royal family?"

"Yes, and I would like as many of the royal guards to move into the barracks as possible, and the guards stationed on lookout and watch duty to be randomised." King Maximillian asked.

"Ok my sire, I vill be sure to be undertaking these instructions immediatelys." Antoine stated, "I shall also begin sweepings for ze insects."

"Insects?" Maximillian asked, "Where on Mobius did 'insects' come from Antoine?"

"Non non non my highness, not those insects... the electronic insects zat they listening into your speakings..." Antoine stated proudly, fluffing himself up in an attempt to look nobler.

"You mean 'bugs' Antoine?" King Max questioned.

"No, zat is not what I has been sayings, what I have been sayings is ze little electronic insects zat an enemy may..."

"ANTOINE," King Max half shouted, "THEY ARE CALLED BUGS... NOT INSECTS... 'BUGS'." Max growled, causing Antoine to raise his hands defensively.

"Ok, ok yours highness they are being called 'bugs' now, I shall now to bes going on guard duty now yes..." Antoine stuttered, backing out of the throne room slowly.

Maximillian sighed heavily as he watched the coyote cower out the heavy oaken doors. "Whatever am I going to do with you Antoine?"

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><p>'<em>If he wasn't being ze king I would... no I vould not do zat..." <em>Antoine thought angrily, storming his way through the castle halls, his soldiers making sure to keep out of his way. No-one liked to be yelled at by Antoine (mostly because no one could make sense of his orders and then he would get even angrier.)

"Alvight everybodys, form upping." Antoine barked, marching into the guards barracks, the line took less than seven seconds to form from constant practice. "Ve all has new orderings... which you alls vill be followings and telling ze others all abouts." Antoine continued, walking down the line like a general.

"their is to be's a changes around here's, due to exteriors threatens, the watchmens and lookoutings roster is to be completelzy randoimized... and everybody's coming innings and outings is to be zearched, no exceptionings excepting for zat of ze King and Queen."

"What about the rest of the royal family?" one of the guards blurted out, covering his mouth when he realised his mistake.

"Did I being gives you permissions to be speakings!" Antoine questioned loudly with his arms flailing behind him, before sighing and dusting himself off. "But yes soldier, wee vill be checkings ze rest of ze royalty family and other such officialings."

"These to be changes vill taking effects tommorows, please notify ze rest of you squadings and to be making sure all ze others be knowings this." Antoine said, standing up straight, "Corporal Slink and... hmmm, zet me sees here... Private Anderson, please stay behindings, the rest of you are to be demissed." Antoine finished, watching as the guards all left, leaving behind a sweating Corporal and catatonic private.

"Sir!" Corporal Slink said, saluting. Beside him Anderson muttered something inconceivable while he attempted to raise his shaking arm.

"Corporal Slink... you're are being one of my most trusting corporals and I has been to be wishing for you to be doings ze constructings of the roster for ze first week." Antoine said, shooing him off, "As for you Private Anderson..." Antoine said menacingly, finding pleasure in the way the recruit nervously squirmed. "I vant you to go and findings Rotor ze Walrus." The recruit visibly relaxed. "...and see if he has any spareings metal detecteoars or similar such gadgetings and zen be reporting back to me, ok."

"Yes sir... right away sir." Private Anderson said, jogging off quickly. Antoine quickly laughed to himself... hate to admit it, but ten years ago he was exactly like that... and he had been part of the freedom fighters.

'_Inconceivable.' _Antoine thought, on his way to the main gate.

Antoine had certainly grown into his father's place, Sonic himself, the very same hedgehog who had teased him and made jokes about his cowardliness over the years, had said that his father would be proud to see him in that jacket. The very same jacket he wore.

As colour dulled and damaged as it was, Antoine had flat out refused every request to get him in a uniform more... current and befitting of his rank, choosing instead to honour his father.

Where before he was cowering most disrespectfully in front of the princess, he was now leading the kings most elite force, where before he was breaking the cover of the freedom fighters, he was now charging the front lines with drawn sword.

"Oh, zat is all a lie..." Antoine stated, leaning against the castle walls. "I vas never cowering in front of ze princesz, and what front lines is there being now?" Antoine asked himself, sighing. _Am I..._ _craving danger?_

"Ze frontlines is of course beings ze safety of the royalty family!" Antoine exclaimed, back to his perky self again as he began rushing off towards the front gates/portcullis of the castle.

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><p>"Oh sweet nectar of the gods..." Tails said to himself, the coffee stall waitress smiled briefly before laughing as the fox took a loving sniff at the black mixture contained in the paper cup before him, one that, quite admittedly, irritated his sensitive and highly evolved nose. "Where have you been all my life?"<p>

"Just found the ensnaring embrace of the coffee bean have we fox prince?" the waitress asked him, she was a stunningly beautiful hedgehog, purple quills and fur. Glancing down to her cake batter smeared apron he found her nametag, _'Moraine.'_ Quite a beautiful name in Tails opinion.

"Please Moraine, just call me Tails... I really don't care that much for titles." Tails politely asked. Making sure to use her name in case she thought he was checking out her (quite ample) rack. Moraine smiled politely before replying.

"Oh, you're just like the prince and princess aren't you?" Moraine said good humouredly, briefly making Tails wonder if his own attitude spawned from Sal's 'no princess in the forest' approach, or some of Sonic's heroism rubbing off on him... or a mix of both. "They never cared for titles much either... Sal used to be my friend back in knothole you know, along with Bun... say, what are those two up to these days anyway?" she asked curiously. Tails smiled, ignoring how she referenced Sonic and Sally as the prince and princess, not his parents.

"I haven't heard much from Bunnie in a little while, last time I saw her was... a month or so back I think, though I believe she's doing quite well with Antoine... as for Sally, she's not doing much apart from stress over political stuff... workaholic that one." Tails replied, taking a sip from the paper cup as he leaned back against the coffee caravan, his namesakes subconsciously swishing back and forth.

"Yeah, that sure sounds like Sal alright..." Moraine muttered, grabbing a blueberry muffin from a plastic covering and handing it to him quickly. "Don't tell the boss man alright... on the house... coffee too fox prince." Moraine whispered, glancing back to make sure the 'boss man' hadn't heard her.

"You're kind Moraine, but I don't need the charity... here, keep the change." Tails said, handing her a tener before pulling it back teasingly as she reached out for it. "And what did I say about titles?" he chastised.

"Sorry Tails, it's just hard to remember when you're talking to a royal." Moraine said. "And Tails... I can't take this..."

"Think of it like a tax return." Tails replied hastily as he began walking off, laughing. "See you round Moraine."

"See ya Tails." Moraine said, waving him off. _"Oh Tails... if only you were a little older or I was a little younger." _Moraine thought. Turning around, she saw a big line beginning to queue up in front of the coffee caravan. _"Damn prince, giving me work on a Sunday." _

Walking through the gardens enroot to the castle, Tails whistled to himself merrily as he passed assorted groups of mobians, waving at friends and townsfolk along the way. It was quite a busy day in the New Mobotropolis gardens, the sun was shining brightly and the grass was a perfect hue of green, there was not a single cloud in the sky either...

Sighing, he briefly wondered how many people were lost in the earthquake... how would New Mobotropolis actually look now?

There were lots of people in New Mobotropolis, mostly young kids or old people round 40-50 or something.

_It is... quite depressing... call me crazy... but all I want is a hand to hold. Quite frankly it pisses me off to know all these old people have someone special in their lives, or have the opportunity to...and that these kids will grow up with each other. that event back there... with Moraine... would I have had a chance? If there was no age difference between us? _

Looking around, he sighed once more.

_These kids all have parents... and will all grow up without war and fear... the scariest thing they will have to ever worry about would be grades and popularity... maybe their first jobs or rel..._

This question had been running around his head for a while now... if he was born a different time, how would things turn out?

A few years earlier at around the time the FF were born, he would have memorised his parents scent and actually have known who they are/were. He would have been able to help out more in the fight against Robotnik, perhaps he would be as much a hero as Sonic himself was... he was surprising Knuckles with his current training regime after all. And to top it all off, he wouldn't have become a royal. (unless he somehow managed to slip into Sally's nonexistent pants.)

Born later on the other half, he would have known who his parents were fullstop, he would have grown up without fear of war, starvation, robotisation, long range missiles, buzz bombers... _he wouldn't have ever existed..._

'_He would have never built the Typhoon; he wouldn't have ever saved the multiverse from Mogul's plight.'_

'_The fucking walkers themselves had said he was a bigger hero then Sonic was... and he was!'_

'_But what the fuck for?'_

'_To leave me high and dry like this? Was it their plan all along to make me kill Cosmo?'_

'_No one knew about what I did, how I saved them all from Mogul... not even Sonic knew... not that I care about anyone knowing anyway, but why didn't I use the opportunity to bring everyone from the quake back to life?'_

The fox's train of thought was quickly interrupted when a flicky flew in and hovered in front of his eyes. Outstretching his hand, the flicky bird landed on his wrist and began chirping happily at him, outstretching its wings.

'_Perfect day to go flying' _Tails thought, trying to change his mood. _'Maybe the Tornado? Haven't taken her up in a while...it'll be good to feel the wind go through my fur again as well.' _and with that thought, Tails was smiling again. "Thanks flicky." Tails whistled to the bird in tweet, the language of the flicky's. Choosing to thank the bird more personally, he pulled off some of the muffin that Moraine had given him and gave it to the bird, (Quite difficultly at that, with the flicky standing on one of his wrists.) before the bird bowed thankfully and flew off.

Watching the flicky happily for a few seconds, Tails briefly wondered how long he had been holding onto the muffin Moraine gave him. Knowing it was too late to go back and give it back to her, Tails pulled his bag off his shoulders and looked around slightly, checking to make sure no-one was around to see what he scrounged from the ruins of Robotropolis, he pushed aside the _'Faux Fur' _magazine before pulling out a clear plastic lunch box and deposited it inside.

Closing the bag, he flung it around his shoulders once more. Testing the straps to make sure it wouldn't rub against his fur before walking off. Puberty and the constant training routings that Knuckles and his own personal trainer had out them through had definitely taken made an effect on the once small fox.

His fur had grown thick and sleek, particularly around his tails, muzzle and chest. Requiring constant grooming and attention, it wasn't odd for him to use a bottle of shampoo and conditioner in one wash, and he always hid a comb in one his tails. the fur around his muzzle was a good 3-4 inches, his chest fur normally hit the range of around 6 inches, while his tail fur could reach a hugigantic 11 inches.

Probably the most humiliating thing was how the claws had grown on his hands. They were now a good inch off his finger tips and sharp as all hell. Forcing him to be extra careful how he grabbed things. The rubber glove protectors that most mobians wore around their claws were now useless to him, thanks to the fact his claws protruded down like talons and cut even the toughest glove protectors easily. Causing him to go without gloves of any kind since even fingerless gloves would be effortlessly cut when he attempted to put them on, so he was forced to show the black fur on his hands... something that had surprised everyone except Sonic.

His growth spurts had hit quickly. Almost as soon as he had hit when he was around 12 and a half, he was about a third taller within a week. This, while being quite cool, had the unfortunate downfall of causing him to miss a few missions due to the immense pain it had caused to his bones. He now stood twice as tall as he did before he hit, hopefully he wouldn't grow any more since he now towered above all but the tallest species of mobian.

His muscle mass had increased tenfold thanks to the constant torture from Knuckles and his personal trainers, along with his own inventions designed specifically to train his body. The fur on his biceps and forearm now protruded threateningly without any muscle tensing, pressing down on his stomach fur you would find abs, which was quite rare on a species like Tails. Shoulders and back along with his legs were definitely visible to anyone, though not to the point his arms were. His most powerful muscles, the tails, could now smash through steel titanium alloy and keep him flying for an entire day.

Sonic's term 'big guy' was now quite subjective.

He was a prince that everybody loved to see. His calm, supportive, playful and generous attitude mixed in with his muscle brawn, genius level intellect and cute looks had made him the pride of New Mobotropolis. (Something that, surprisingly enough, Sonic grudged about every fortnight or so.)

Reaching the castle steps, Tails decided to take a leaf from the flicky's book and slowly began spinning his name sakes, satisfied at the speed, he leaped forward and hovered above the steps when he was sure no-one was in his way. It wasn't a pleasant thought what would happen to someone should he hit them with his spinning tails. Broken bones and decapitations were among the worst thoughts.

Reaching the apex, he decided to fly around a few circles... he would most definitely be taking the Tornado out sometime later; most likely a certain blue hedgehog would be standing on the wings as soon as he started the engine up. The Tornado was Tails most unchanged aircraft, where the Blue Typhoon and Tornado two, three and four received almost constant upgrades, the Tornado only received repairs whenever it needed them and maybe the odd paintjob, in fact, it's only upgrades had been a Chaos accelerator and a speedo change... maybe a hydraulics change or two... and a smoke writer at the back... front firing 40mm machine guns... ring blaster... photonic based energy shield... powerful magnets in the wing to keep a certain passenger onboard when he did barrel rolls...

'_Ok, so it remains __mostly__ unchanged.' _Tails thought, _'at least I never connected up hundreds of rocket salvos to an electronic keyboard like I did back in the Typhoon... never doing that again after what Vector and Charmy managed to accomplish.' _Tails thought to himself, shuddering. Rouge had asked him quite flirtatiously in order to help her scour an ancient temple in Downunda and move the merchandise back to New Mobotropolis. She also hired the Chaotix for ten or so grand to do most of the heavy lifting, unfortunately for her... Vector and Charmy had both found said keyboard in the bridge, and said ancient ruin suddenly found itself turned into a smouldering pile of dust before her eyes.

Luckily for Tails, (who was taking a shit at the time) Rouge was standing nearby when they found the keyboard, and he was exempt from her beatings only because there was a note attached to the keyboard that said _"DON'T YOU GODAMN LAY A FINGER ON THIS! YES, THIS MEANS YOU CHATOIX – TAILS."_

By the time he had found them, Mighty and Vector were both fleeing from an enraged Rouge, who was swinging a giggling Charmy around like a flail, Espio was nowhere to be found and Ray had presumably jumped out an airlock somewhere and taken off.

Obviously, Tails wasn't getting any from the bat that night, _'though it was probably a good thing, she's most likely infested to hell and back.' _Tails thought, giggling heartily to himself as he touched down in front of the main gates.

"Someone's is beings in ze good moods today's." Antoine stated, puffing.

"Oh hey Ant, what's happening?" Tails replied, smiling.

"Well ze king is being told of a plotings from ze metal dominos..." Antoine replied hastily, putting his fingers together nervously.

"The king is what Antoine... what's the metal dominos?" Tails asked... scratching his head, "wait, you mean the Iron Dominion right?"

"Oui monsieur Miles, zat is being ze one... it has been reporting's that zay might be tryings to infiltrate zee castle." Antoine stated, now breathing properly again. "We are being taking precortionings to makeses sure ze castle does not be infiltrated..."

"Antoine, one of these day's I'm going to get you some English lessons... but who say's the castle is going to be infiltrated?" Tails asked curiously.

"vell that is simple it is being zee..." Antoine exclaimed, "... wait a seconds here... who did this sayings?"Antoine wondered, bringing his finger to his mouth. "zee King Maximillian was being the one informing me of zee saturation... maybee it was beings ones of zee secretservicemans? Hmmm?"

"Well, anyway Ant, if it's the Iron Dominion here I'll be talking to the king personally about this... I'm sure Nicole will be expressing an interest as well." Tails said, walking towards the front gates.

"Not so fastings here Tails..." Antoine said, grabbing Tails arm.

"Yeah, what's up Antoine?" Tails quizzed.

"I has being two questionings before can you goes insideings..." Antione said, releasing his grip once Tails turned around curiously. "vumber ones... do you knows if zee Rotor has any spare metal detecteoars or other securitys gadgetings?" Antoine asked.

"No, I don't think he does, but when I went into the workshop this morning I saw he had scrounged some pretty good oscillators from somewhere that he could use to build a few, though I'm not sure if he had anything planed for them."

"Vell, that is goody enough I guessings..." Antoine said, "Sexond, I'm going to be needing to have a searchings of you."

"um, scuse me? Tails replied.

"Zee king is ordering zee guards to searchings everyones who comes ins or outings of zee castle groundz... zat is being includeings you as well."

"Antoine... you've known me since I was born, I'm a former freedom fighter and I hate the Iron Dominion... why would I bring something in for them." Tails replied defensively.

"zit it not beings a questionings of weather or not you vould monsiure Miles..." Antoine replied, "Zit is a questions of nationanling securitys."

"Antoine..." Tails asked, looking around to check his surroundings. There were two guards with halberds standing in front of the castle gates while another six positioned on the steps, two at every twenty step interval. A lieutenant was sitting in a guards station having a smoke, which earned him a dirty glare from Antoine when he noticed Tails gaze. "What if... I was to say I had something in my bag that... I didn't particularly want anyone else to see..."

Antoine stared at him blankly for a second. "What is it that you are trying to be saying?" he replied suspiciously, eyes narrowing slightly.

"There is something... in my bag... that I don't want anyone else to see." Tails replied nervously, "It's not exactly dangerous... but it's..."

"Guards..." Antoine interrupted, causing Tails to sweatdrop "Vould you pleasings to come over heres zis instants?" Antoine barked, not taking his eyes off of the fox.

"No Antoine it's nothing bad... well it is... but nothing dangerous..." Tails stammered out. "It's embarrassing and I don't want anyone to see it..."

"You had betterst comes along with mes fox prince!"

"Why does everyone call me that?" Tails asked himself as he was lead into the guards station by three very nervous guardsmen.

* * *

><p>"vun half eatined muffins, vun soda makers machines, black marketz... two sody syrups, black marketz..." Antoine listed off with a smirk, as two guards audibly sniggered behind Tails. "... vun C02 canister for ze sodas maker, black marketz of course... vun spanner... vun packet of screws... and vun pornegrapic magezine..." Antoine finished, laughing as he opened the <em>'Faux Fur' <em>magazine and proceeded to examine the models, "ves, she is being a nice vun, hmmm?" Antoine said, turning the book around and showing the guards behind Tails an image of an exposed wolf with soccer ball sized breasts. Tails felt his cheeks going red in embarrassment.

"Are you quite finished there Ant?" Tails quizzed, clearly embarrassed and not wanting to be in the darkened interrogation cell any longer then he needed to be... especially with that light shining in his eyes.

"Why yes I is..." Antoine laughed, flicking though the magazine briefly before putting it back in the fox's bag, along with the rest of his belongings, including the black market soda machine, C02 and syrup. "You may go of corseting." Antoine stated.

Tails didn't wait any longer than necessary, zipping up his bag and throwing it over his shoulders quickly, he turned to leave, only to hear Antoine clear his throat behind him.

"I was just wonderings..." Antoine started, as Tails turned to face him, "how does vun go about 'clearings ze pipes' vith those sharped claws of yours?" Antoine joked, causing the other guards in the room to burst out in a fit of laughter and turn Tails cheeks bright red again.

"This never happened..." Tails ordered, ignoring the comment as he opened the door of the interrogation room and walked out leaving behind a trio of cackling soldiers.

"Bloody walkers!" Tails exclaimed, walking outside into the fresh air and taking flight with his tails again and flying towards his personal stone balcony that hung outside of his room, below him he could see guardsmen walking across the multiple walls that interconnected the various turrets and towers, he knew they wouldn't cause him any trouble because of his distinctive silhouette however, but anyone else foolish enough to try it would be instantly set upon by the Royal Avian Guards, most likely resulting in a heavy bolt suddenly sticking out of their back midflight.

Unlike most other mobian divisions, the RAG scared the living shit out of Tails. Centuries upon centuries of protecting the royal family from open window assassination attempts had produced a near flawless division of super soldiers, cold deadly and efficient; these guys were seen as a personal army willing and able to do anything the king desired, be it preparing a cup of tea or removing heads of government.

RAG soldiers were mostly built up from a breed of mutated flicky called the "flee," which were all decedents of a pregnant flicky that had accidently fallen into the "Source of all" several centuries ago. Unlike the traditional breed of flicky that was small, cheerful and blue, the flee were tall, brooding, massive anamorphic black feathered monsters which processed no visible sentience whatsoever, instead dedicating their entire lives to protecting the acorn dynasty because of their unique connection with the source of all. Retaining the incredible intelligence from their flicky ancestor, the attack patterns of all flee was unpredictable yet effective, ranging from anything between aerial group assaults to solo talon fights. Breeding and social structures was compromised entirely from the effectiveness that one showed in battle.

Putting the bag onto the bed, Tails proceeded to remove the soda machine from its box and placing the C02 cartridge inside of it and turning it into place...

Upon orders from King Max the day Robotnik took Mobotropolis, the flee had been told to (somewhat ironically) hide themselves away somewhere that no one would ever find them, and wait for mobian civilisation to rise up again, only recently arriving back around four months ago, and had been keeping the peace since.

Tails thought train was brought to a halt as he heard a knocking at the door, unnaturally fast taps indicating who it was instantly. "Come in Sonic."

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><p>Well, that's it for this chapter.<p>

Don't forget to rate, fav, subscribe, review.

All chaps will have a target length of 5000+ words.

Dark side of the gems is currently on hold, until planning and stuff paves out.


	2. War Room

"Yo big guy," Sonic greeted, plopping himself down on the kitsune's couch as the two tailed fox in question carbonated some water in the soda machine. "The big-big guy wants to see you down in the war room apparently." Sonic stated as he rubbed a hand through his quills.

"Damn it..." Tails growled, instantly recognising Sonic's euphuism for the king. "This better not have anything to do with the Dominion."

"Believe me it does..." Sonic stated, ignoring the curse Tails uttered seconds prior much to the fox's surprise. "The nobles are going nuts down there... everyone's asking for us by name and I've been sent to gather up all the FF's." Sonic stated. "You're the last."

"Alright, we better go see them..." Tails stated, more than slightly disappointed since his plans for today have been ruined. "Come on, let's go." Tails ordered, surprising Sonic for the statements boldness.

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><p><strong>Robotnik's last victim Chapter 2 – War Room.<strong>

_Change: The act or instance of making or becoming different._

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><p>"<em>What is this? This thing I see? The everything?"<em>

"_Is this the darkness? What is the darkness?" _I wonder, outstretching something, I think it's my arm. _"What am I?"_

"_**A most excellent question? What are you?" **_the voice taunts... mocking me angrily. Did I do something wrong? I must have to be here... I can't remember anything apart from the darkness. I don't even know how I'm thinking cognitively.

"_Who are you?" _I think loudly, at least as loud as I can make my thoughts go. _"What is THAT? Something new, something strange, something abnormal, an anomaly I believe... what is it?" _I wonder, realising there is a new sensation entering into my limb... it's like the water pressure or the occasional bubble, yet somehow, it's different feeling on my fibres. There's another sensation here as well, it's a very alien feeling.

"_It feels like a rattling... maybe if I outstretch my limb again." _the tip of my limb hits something and I unclench what I think my fingers are to touch it. "_There goes that unusual sensation again. In my head, is it another thought?" _I wonder, feeling a smooth surface through the liquid. I hit the surface with my limb again... the strange thought recurs as soon as I touch it.

I don't think it could be a thought, maybe something else? An odd disturbance in my mind. _"Sound?"_

It's a tapping; I hit the surface again to prove my suspicions correct. _"Whatever the surface is, it's hollow."_

I strike the surface with force, cracking it effortlessly, I feel the liquid flowing away through the small crack and the pressure soon shatters the smooth surface.

I grow tired, I finally smash the smooth surface with what I think is my arm, I feel something puncturing me, for any lesser being this would be considered painful.

I jump out into the darkness, the black. My feet, I think, hits something sharp and I feel it slip into my foot. The ground is covered in the liquid from my personal jail, though it doesn't seep through me. Strange, considering how I am constructed, how I am made... why the liquid reacts this way is confusing, I should be a wet sodden mess.

The darkness surrounds me, though I feel strangely at home. I can feel every rat scurrying about behind these boxes and metals and wires, I can sense every surface or wall or console in this disquieting, smelly flee pit. Still, I need light, I need sight... I see, I see something, dangling in front of my eyes... a crystal, a gem, eight sided; the intensity burns my buttons.

A memory, a memory appears in my mind... of project deadly cuddles. And I know what must be done, what went wrong last time.

"_**Master is dead... OH HO HO HO HO!"**_the voice states, who is it? I know that it is not of my stitching. I decide that it does not matter; it will have no affect on the plans of the Tails Doll, of the Puppet Master. But if what it says it true, then am I free?

"_No, master never had control over this one."_ I think, _"Though this one will not have a master to listen to this time." _

I remember all... I remember me.

My tail curls around a nearby rat and I watch in wonder as the small animal tries to defend itself... I watch in wonder as it bites the fabric of my vessel with germ infested jaws in its desperate efforts of escape.

I bring the rat closer, laughing as it pisses itself in my hand. Its gaze become's ensnared onto the gem, as I will the vessel's arm to raise, I send thin metal tendrils out of my fingers and curl them around the rat's nose. All the while the rat doesn't stop staring at the gem, the light... before it screams in terror... the tendril painfully slides underneath the rat's eyes, reaching into the brain as the eyes slide out onto the hard floor below. "Hello... puppet." I say, _I think... it's hard to tell what things are in this dank, darkened purgatory hellhole._

The rat puppet flops around on the wet concrete floor, its nervous system rejustifying itself, bone and spine morphing to fabric and yarn. Skin and fur changing to fibre and cloth, eyes into black plastic buttons. I laugh; studying the bubonic carrying fleas jump from the body as they sense the sudden temperature drop... all likely to freeze to death.

I drop that rat, slicing it's gem in half with my tendril in the process... dematerialising it.

_I plan... I plot... _

_I sense... there is a puppet... thought to be rotting... she will do nicely...very nicely... my puppet queen... my Cream... my Cream... my Cream... MY CREAM!  
><em>_M  
><em>_Y  
><em>_C  
><em>_R  
><em>_E  
><em>_A  
><em>_M  
>! love you, my puppet queen...<em>

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><p><em>I study the war room silently; my eyes scan over the assembled freedom fighters and army personnel. Five certain individuals catch my attention over the other assorted rabble.<em>

_Princess Sally... My Daughter and most likely candidate for ascension to the throne. Her wasted childhood ensured the safety of all mobiankind and produced the best combat tactician and political powerhouse. Though I do worry about her mental state of mind occasionally, she really needs to learn to have fun. _

_Sonic... son in law, nothing more, even if he is a hero. He will undoubtedly become a key player in the war ahead. Still doesn't make the decision any easier though. He's a foolish idiot, but he gets the job done... normally. _

_Prince Tails... the beloved "Fox Prince," undoubtedly the best thing to come from the marriage of my daughter to that rat Sonic... the fact he uses both his real name and a nickname confuses me at times, seeing as how mobians like to keep their full name secret. I do wonder what happened to his parents at times... they must have been crushed in the earthquake that destroyed Robotropolis. Nevertheless, His rare genetics and social situation makes him an incredibly... useful instrument to me. _

_Antoine D'Coolette... I can't understand him half the time, but his subordinates can. Which is good since his military mind potentially rivals that of Sally's. He's a much better candidate for Sally then Sonic is, but alas, she has decided to go with that rat. _

_Bunnie Rabbot... truthfully, her cybernetics scares me. Even though she has used them to save many people, I know she can be trusted with them so long as she's in control. But with the Iron Queen to consider, I think she would be best placed as an advisor for my daughter. Her love for Antoine is quite obvious. _

_My thought session is brought to a halt as Geoffrey St John silently hands me a dossier as several other members of the Royal Secret Service hand out dossier's to everyone else in the room , Geoffrey may not have been loyal in the past, particularly surrounding the Naugus events... but his devotion to the future of New Mobotropolis more than makes up for it... even if I have to get the RAG to watch him from now on. _

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><p>"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen of the court, of the Freedom Fighters and of New Mobotropolis... please accept my apologies in bringing you here like this." Maxi says, his tone of voice is sincere yet controlled, considering the situation that is. That Skunk Geoff hands me some papers, handing some to Sal girl and Lil Bro as well, both give him a dirty look and I think I did as well.<p>

"We are here to discuss the ongoing hostilities in Dragon Country..." Some black feathered hawk beside the king drones, he's obviously part of the RAG, though the fact he's not a flee surprises me considerably. He's wearing the traditional Royal officer uniform with brown boots, a tuft of white feathers is visible through his uniform and there is five, six visible feathers sticking out of his head, his blue eyes scan the room intelligently, it's hard to tell if there's actually something going on in that old noggin of his or not.

"Excuse me... but who's this?" I ask, pointing to the new hawk curiously.

"This, ladies and gentlemen is the current leader of the Royal Avian Guards... Commander Sharpshrewd." Maxi introduces warmly, though Sharp seems less than interested at getting a royal introduction from the king, simply shrugging it off before continuing. Beside me, Sal and Tails open the papers and begin reading, don't know about Tails, but Sal seemed to be the only other to see him shrugging, why Maxi trusts RAG is beyond me.

"Quite frankly we know little to nothing about the situation over there at the moment." Sharp says truthfully, '_cos RAG are brainless idiots,'_ "What we do know is frightening to say the least." Sharp states, pulling a remote from his jacket pocket and signalling the Royal Secret Service (RSS) to dim the lights. Pushing the remote, an overhead projector directly above me starts glowing as the lights are shut off.

"These images were taken from our undercover agent codenamed 'Undercat,' At approximately 0500 yesterday morning..." Sharp says, an image of a dragon countyish style castle appears on the sheet, smoke spurting from one of the many windows. "...the Iron King was assassinated by a self detonation sequence." Sharp says, nearly invisible in the low level light present in the room.

"So! Why should we care?" a grizzled voice sounds, if I was to take a guess it would be that of Hamlin, one of the Substitute Freedom Fighters trained by my Sal-girl. "In case you've all forgotten, the Iron Dominion tried to kill us!" he states.

"It matters Hamlin!" Maxi growls, wheelchair practically shaking. "Because the detonation sequence was initiated from a robot that looked suspiciously like an Egg Pawn!" he finished, as Sharp pressed a button on the remote and the picture changed to that of a big bulky red and orange machine, resembling that of its notorious creator, it's bright cyan blue eyes creating a lot of light pollution in the darkened room.

"We don't know if this could mean the possible return of Eggman, a power strike from the Iron Queen or if this could be the work of Snively... what we do know is the Iron Queen has taken full control of the kingdom... given her previous intentions towards New Mobotropolis and her ability to control mechanical devices and even Nicole, we have found ourselves in a very dangerous situation." Sharp says, Sally looks up from her work at the mention of Nicole; people were still to recover from that ordeal.

"What's to say the Iron Queen will try to invade New Mobotropolis?" I ask, standing up. "I mean, even if she does try it she has us to contend to." I say, rubbing my hand through my quills... I hear Sal girl sighing beside me, while Tails snorts discontentedly to her right.

"You fuel, wees are to be having's friends in ze Dragon Countries!" Antoine butts in, standing up two seats in front of me... wait, how did Ant get seated in front of me!

"Antoine's right." Sally states, "There are peaceful villages and people situated in Dragon Country. We should consider sending some men down to assist evacuation."

"The Iron Queen will surely see that as an act of war..." Tails points out, not averting his gaze from the papers. "Though if it comes to it we can always just ask Monkey Kahn, isn't he supposed to some sort of king or official?" Tails questions.

"Monkey Kahn has not been heard from in two months." Rotor reports, being the lead mechanic for the city, he was the guy to talk to about such things.

"Kahn's troops have all been absorbed into the Iron Dominion since yesterday as well," Sharp informs, changing the picture of a Egg Pawn to that of a graph, indicating troop numbers. I didn't pay much attention to the graph itself however, the staggering 20000 estimated troop number stole most of my thoughts. "It is suspected that the Iron Queen has found a way to take control of Monkey Kahn's mind, seeing as how he is part cyborg. That, however is not the worst... if the images are anything to go on, we could be facing an innumerable amount of Eggman's robot's should this be the return of Eggman or it being of Snively's own work."

"So, what do we do?" Hamlin asks, "We can't just sit here and wait for the Dominion to start killing people!"

"Nor can we just go rushing in evacuating people," Rotor points out, "And since the Iron Dominion hasn't officially done anything yet we can't go sending anyone in."

"Surely we could send in an investigation team." I say, standing up, "If Egg Pawns have been spotted then surely we can send in a team quoting that." The king looks at me oddly, Sally looks at me oddly, Geoffrey looks at me oddly, and even Tails looks at me oddly. "What!"

"That is actually a good idea Sonic..." Sally says sincerely... I don't know if that's a good thing or not.

"What, I can't come up with good plans?" I retaliate.

"Doesn't solve our Iron Dominion problem." Tails points out, "but it's a start until we can figure out something more concrete... question is who goes."

"Wadda you mean who goes?" I ask, sitting down.

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><p>"Wadda you mean who goes?" Sonic asks, sitting down. "I mean, weren't you saying something about wanting to take the plane out on the walk over here? You and me both Lil bro."<p>

"Sonic, I know you are used to adventure are danger and other such whats..." King Maximillian stated impassively, "but even if you are a hero, you became a royal when you married my daughter and the bloodline must be protected."

"Father, that decision is rather rash don't you think?" Sally interjected, "Sonic can take care of himself, and we're going to need agents who know their way around Dragon Country... agent's like myself, Sonic and Tai..."

"I WILL NOT RISK YOU ALL TO SUCH A MENIAL TASK!" King Max growled, slamming his fist down on the table in front of him, "An investigation team was preselected and on the table before this meeting had even started." Maximillian said, calming and composing himself.

"Well... who?" Sonic asked, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Myself..." Sharpshrewd said, "the Trainers, Tails along with a sister version of Nicole, and four RAG members."

"Wait, what!" Hamlin asks surprisingly, jumping up. "You're sending Tails to Dragon Country, alongside RAG members and the Trainers?"

"Oh great..." Tails commented sarcastically. "Going to Dragon Country surrounded by emo's!"

"Wait, what do I DO!" Sonic shouts, "I can't just sit here and watch my Lil Bro go on an adventure without me... especially with those anti social hedgehogs!"

"Sonic... Relax!" Sally commented, pulling a storming Sonic back into his seat.

"Sally, my little bro is going halfway across the planet with RAG and two Shadow's guarding him and you're telling me to calm down!" Sonic questioned angrily.

"Sonic, I know it's hard on you for 'our son' to undertake this, but think of all the people he would be saving."

"Hey, Maxi, can't I go in Tails place!" Sonic asked pleadingly, looking at both Sally and Tails for forgiveness, though neither was showing any emotion.

"Sonic..." Tails begged.

"Why does it have to be him?" Sonic asked, pleading to take the place of his little bro, his son.

"Because I can trust Tails to be stealthy, because I can trust Tails with his people skills and because I can trust Tails with his intelligence." Came the reply from Maximillian, even if it was voiced to be unbiased, it didn't sound like it. "You may be the best candidate for most situations but this one is suited more so for Tails... you in the mean time, are going to work alongside with Rotor..." Maximillian said, signalling the walrus in question (much to his surprise.) "... To determine the current threat posed to us from any of Robotnik's creations."

"You will be sent out with another sister version of Nicole, along with five RAG soldiers." Sharpshrewd pointed out, "You will be able to request anyone of your choosing to come along with you, except for your wife Sally,"

"What!"

"...Who will be needed here for political support and combat tactician-ship." Sharpshrewd finished, leaning forward onto the table.

"How... why, is there even any sister versions of Nicole!" Sally demanded, "She hasn't said anything about this to me!"

"Nicole is not a she!" Hamlin shouted from the back, "Nicole is a thing! A tool!"

"Hamlin..." Nicole said, materialising from a wall hologram. "Don't say that."

"It's true, and how many people did you kill last time, when the Iron Queen took control over you? How many people did you kill once you were free? Why should we allow you to go along with the prince's if you can't control yourself?" Hamlin pointed out, standing up on his chair, receiving boos and cheers from all those around.

"I had to... I had no choice!" Nicole defended, tears in her eyes.

"That's not good eno..."

"Hamlin! I swear on my uncle Merlin's name, I'm gona come over there and kick your ass if you don't shut the fuck up right now!" Tails blared out, fur sticking on end as he turned to look at the shivering pig now cowering in the back, receiving both cheers from Nicole supporters and approving looks from Sally and Sonic. No-one dared oppose the Fox Prince.

"Father, Nicole... what is this about sisters?" Sally asked angrily, both Sonic and Tails taking their seats as the ground squirrel stared daggers at her dad and childhood friend. "What if these 'sisters' where to get into the wrong hands!" Sally demanded.

"Exactly why we didn't want anyone to know." Maximillian stated, picking at his grey moustache.

"For safety reasons these 'sisters' don't have the level of control that the original Nicole processes." Sharpshrewd stated, scanning the room before sitting down.

"_He knows a little bit too much about this situation for my liking..."_ Sally thought, "What is the involvement of RAG throughout this crisis?" Sally asked curiously, leaning forwards. "I thought RAG exists solely for the purpose of protecting the king."

"RAG has been turned into a special forces division for the duration of the Dragon crisis..." Maximillian answered quickly, "Given the technological advantages the Iron Dominion has over us with the Iron Queen's technomagic's, I believe it's for the best to use every possible resource at our disposal."

"Except for me!" Sonic complained loudly, swinging back and forth from his chair lazily.

"You are being used hedgehog!" the king snapped hastily, "you think we're just going to send you into old Eggman ruins for the hell of it?" Maximillian questioned angrily.

"Well... when you put it that way..." Sonic replied quietly.

"You still haven't answered the questions about the sisters!" Rotor pointed out.

"I programmed the sisters myself, they process no control over the city's Nanites and are missing a number of crucial files relating to the secrecy of New Mobotropolis." Nicole answered, "They are husk AIs, not yet containing any personality. They exist to give orders and guide the prince's on their delegated tasks... they also all contain files to block out the technomagic's of the Iron Queen should either one of them come into direct contact and..."

"I think that is enough Nicole." Sharpshrewd demanded, "For all we know we could have a spy in here."

"Unlikely, but I see your point." Nicole responded, dusting her dress respectfully.

"Is that all?" Maximillian asked, speaking up again when there came no reply. "Prince Sonic and Tails will recive personal briefings within a few hours, and are to depart within two days... Nicole will now be active full time and is authorised to scan any and all citizens entering the walls of New Mobotropolis... meeting adjourned."

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><p>political shit, what can I say.<p>

next update, ASWIF? then we may see about ArkFox.

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